Shades of Blue and Gold
by Jaeeton
Summary: 1sentance challenge using the Zutara pairing, short little moments from during and after the series.


These prompts are from the 1sentance community on LJ, based on all things Zutara. Reviews highly encouraged as this is only the second time I've done one of these, so please tell me what you think. Some of these were written after seeing the newest season 3 trailer (which was absolutely awesome), so see if you can pick which ones were inspired by it. And the title...erm...probably better if you don't ask...Anyway, enjoy the Zutaraness!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. If I did the turtleducks would rule the Fire Nation.

**Shades of Blue and Gold**

**1: Motion**

When they fight they are constantly in motion, circling and swaying, jumping and rolling, ducking and jabbing, and though they don't take any notice, to the ones watching it looks like they are performing a dance to which only they know the steps.

**2: Cool**

Her hand on his face is cool compared to the stuffy air of the caves, and for a moment he wishes they could just stay like this forever, but then _they_ come bursting in and the moment is lost and forgotten.

**3: Young**

As he looks around the fire at his new companions he realizes that he is actually the oldest person in this little group, except for maybe the earthbender boy, and somehow that makes him feel even younger.

**4: Last**

When Aunt Wu had told Katara that she would marry a very powerful bender, Zuko was the last person that had entered her mind (_but she _had_ still thought of him, if only briefly_).

**5: Wrong**

And this is wrong, _wrong_, _**wrong**_, because not only is he from the fire nation, her enemy, but he hunted Aang and he betrayed them, betrayed _her_, so why does she keep getting butterflies whenever he's around?

**6: Gentle**

There is nothing gentle about the way her body crashes into his, and her arms wrap around him so tight he almost can't breathe, but he's hugging her back just as tight so it doesn't really matter right now.

**7: One**

She thinks that he is like the sweets that she used to love as a child, she would promise herself that she would just take one (_just one step closer_), and then maybe just another one (_just one kiss_), and of course just one more couldn't hurt (_just one touch_) only one more was never enough with either of them.

**8: Thousand**

He has travelled the world from end to end, chased the Avatar over endless thousands of miles, so he finds it rather ironic really that he finally catches up with the boy right back where he started.

**9: King**

They are all surprised when the Prince adamantly refuses to take his fathers place on the throne, insisting instead that his Uncle reclaim his birthright, but for some reason she's glad that he won't be tied down to a throne for a few more years at least.

**10: Learn**

Zuko learns the hard way that the scared little waterbender he first met has grown up, because not only is she glaring daggers at him as he pins her to the wall, he is suddenly all too aware of the fact that she has _curves_.

**11: Blur**

The line between what is wrong and what is right begins to blur and suddenly their world isn't so simple anymore (_because they weren't supposed to fall for each other but how can something that feels this right possibly be wrong?_).

**12: Wait**

As he watches her leave his new room in the western air temple, he wants to call out after her, _wait, please don't leave me again, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me_, but he is still far too proud to beg and the words get stuck in his throat

**13: Change**

As she watches him slowly slip into his own little niche in their group, she can't help but think that maybe this time he really has changed, and it surprises her how much she wants this to be true.

**14: Command**

He was always better at giving commands than taking them, so obeying all Katara's orders is really starting to get on his nerves, but he'll bite his tongue and do whatever she says because he knows he deserves much worse punishment than chores.

**15: Hold**

It is their first date, and even though her brother is sending the Prince death glares as they walk off he insists on holding her hand and refuses to let it go for the rest of the night.

**16: Need**

He is a Price of the Fire Nation, and he always thought that to need someone else was a weakness, but then that was before he met her.

**17: Vision**

She's never had much experience with visions, so of course it was easy for her to brush off the dream of herself in red, wearing a crown that looked like a flame, as nothing but a mere nightmare (_no matter that she had felt perfectly happy until she woke up_).

**18: Attention**

She is used to dealing with Aang, who normally has the attention span of a hyperactive lemur, so it's nice to sit and talk with someone who doesn't change topics every two breaths (_because I mean, why _else_ would she be talking to Zuko, it's not like she actually enjoys his company or anything_).

**19: Soul**

She used to think that he was an evil soulless firebender, just another enemy, but then she looked in his eyes and saw that he was just another lost and broken child, another innocent victim of this ridiculous war, and suddenly she found it so much harder to hate him.

**20: Picture**

When the artist painted the picture of the Avatar and his friends that now hangs in the Fire Palace, she had to literally drag Zuko into it (_so honestly Dad that's the only reason I was holding his hand_).

**21: Fool**

Maybe he had been a fool for turning his back on the waterbender, for believing, even for a second, that Azula was telling the truth, but he had just wanted so badly to go _home_.

**22: Mad**

She had (_quite by accident of course_) completely forgotten to mention to Zuko that King Bumi was in fact entirely mad, but honestly the look on his face as he tried to escape his conversation with the old man was just priceless.

**23: Child**

Sometimes it scares him that the fate of their world rest on the shoulders of this child, this innocent, naive little boy who is having to grow up all too fast, but still can't manage to do it fast enough.

**24: Now**

She knows that she'll probably regret this later, but right now, just letting him hold her while she cries seems like the best decision she's ever made.

**25: Shadow**

He sits half in shadow, looking away to the side, and suddenly she can see the boy he might have been, had things been different, and also a glimpse of the man he might one day become.

**26: Goodbye**

She's always hated saying goodbye, but she still feels it's important, because she never got to say goodbye to her mother and she is not going to make that mistake again.

**27: Hide**

He thanks the spirits that her brother talks so loud, because otherwise they would have been caught in some rather... _compromising_ positions a long time ago.

**28: Fortune**

When they pass through a small village with a fortune teller she insists that he gets his fortunes read, but he can already see all he needs to know about his future reflected in her clear blue eyes.

**29: Safe**

He used to live in a palace surrounded by guards, but hiding in an old air temple with this group of children and teenagers, he feels safer than he ever did in the palace.

**30: Ghost**

They are both haunted by the ghosts of their mothers, the people who were taken from them when they were too young to make a difference, so now that they can do something about it, they will do anything to make sure that it never happens again.

**31: Book**

"You know Zuko, I'm thinking of writing a book about all our adventures, so that there'll be at least one account out there that's right, what do you ... Zuko are you _laughing_ at me?"

**32: Eye**

He loves looking into her eyes even when she's glaring daggers at him because he can see everything she's thinking, which makes a nice change from the people in the Fire Nation, who are always hiding what they really feel.

**33: Never**

She swears to herself that she'll never forgive him and that she'll never fall for his tricks again, but when he's being this nice he makes it so damn_ hard. _

**34: Sing**

When his uncle proposes the idea of a music night to the Avatar and his gang, Zuko is less than enthusiastic, and to his surprise so is Katara and they are even more shocked to find out that they both have the same reason (_who would've guessed that neither of them could sing to save their lives?_)

**35: Sudden**

She hadn't actually meant to kiss him, but she just got so caught up in the euphoria of winning, and before she knew what she was doing she had thrown herself into his arms and her lips were on his and she didn't want to ever let him go.

**36: Stop**

"We all know you have to stop hating him some time Sweetness, you're just too nice, and he's trying too hard for you to keep holding this grudge for much longer."

**37: Time**

They have a country to help run and meetings to attend and so many other important things to do, but somehow they always manage to find time to sit and feed the turtleducks together.

**38: Wash**

Zuko was never really all that good at gambling but he had expected Katara to be much worse, so he had never thought that he would actually end up having to wash this monstrous, smelly, beast that kept trying to lick him to death.

**39: Torn**

He has always been torn between being a good son, and being who he really is, until he realizes that his father has never done anything to deserve a good son, but he can be both at the same time for his uncle, who has been more like a father to him than his own ever was.

**40: History**

She never learned much about the history of the other nations outside of how the war had started, so maybe that was why she loved listening to all the old legends that Zuko told Toph, Aang and the Duke right before bed.

**41: Power**

Zuko has felt the power behind her strikes, but as he watches her hips sway as she walks away from him, he thinks that this is nothing compared to the power she wields by simply being a woman.

**42: Bother**

He used to feel that he was just a bother to everyone around him because it seemed like everyone who had ever loved him had suffered because of it, but he couldn't make her stop her loving him, no matter how hard he tried.

**43: God**

When he told Katara that he thought Toph was Agni's way of apologising to him for Azula, she can't help but think that this god of Zuko's must have a pretty perverse sense of humour.

**44: Wall**

They had both been hurt, they had both built defences around their hearts, so maybe that was the reason they each knew exactly where to strike to break down the others walls.

**45: Naked**

It's not like she had _meant_ to walk in on Zuko while he was taking a bath, and it's not like she had actually _wanted _to see him naked(_even if he did have a rather nice ass_), and she _definitely_ had NOT been disappointed when he had grabbed his towel because after all, it _was_ an accident.

**46: Drive**

"She keeps threatening me, and she's annoying and moody and grumpy and she's always _watching _me, honestly she's driving me insane and Uncle why the _hell _are you laughing at me, it's not funny!"

**47: Harm**

She was finally beginning to think that maybe he really was on their side, until he offered to make them all tea, because she was sure that someone could only make tea that bad if they wished to harm whoever was drinking it.

**48: Precious**

It was her mother's necklace, so it had always been special to her, but now it also makes her think of _him,_ and she's not sure if that's a bad thing or not.

**49: Hunger**

Hiding out in an abandoned temple means that food is always in short supply, and trying to provide for eight people is a constant struggle, so she can't help but feel grateful as Zuko gives his half empty bowl to Aang and tells him that he's full so Aang can have the rest.

**50: Believe**

It is not until years after the war as he stands with his beloved wife, watching their children play in the royal gardens with their Grandpa Iroh, that he truly believes that everything really is, at last, the way it was always meant to be.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think.


End file.
